Sequence Analysis of Tomas Alfredson's Låt
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UCL SELCS SCHOOL OF EUROPEAN LANGUAGES, CULTURE AND SOCIETY Sequence Analysis of Tomas Alfredson’s Låt den rätte komma in (2008) (Danny Concha) Tomas Alfredson’s unconventional vampire film, Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in, 2008) is a masterclass in genre hybridity. Adapted from John Ajvide Lindqvist’s bestselling novel, the film presents both an ‘unequivocal vampire tale’ and ‘a moving, elegantly crafted story of isolation and connection’1, merging the supernatural with everyday psychological and social realities. By innovatively embedding vampire conventions within Swedish cinematic traditions of art-house drama and social realism, the motif of the vampire is re-examined, indigenised and transformed into a powerful metaphor for exploring both the emotional lives and relationship between the film’s prepubescent protagonists Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) and Eli (Lina Leandersson), as well as wider social issues of neglect, loneliness and exclusion. Critically acclaimed on both national and international platforms (earning success at Göteborg International Film Festival, Guldbagge Awards and Tribeca Film Festival amongst others), Let the Right One In redefines and transcends both traditional gothic and popular teen-orientated interpretations of the vampire genre to reach new levels of emotional depth and social commentary. The chosen sequence showcases both the film’s hybridity and the major tensions in the narrative. Occurring mid-way through the film, this scene marks a crucial development in Oskar and Eli’s relationship, beginning with Eli’s stated refusal to enter Oskar’s home uninvited. Challenged, she proceeds to enter anyway, resulting in a horrific and gory seizure which provokes Oskar to reconsider both his relationship to Eli as well as his own sense of self. Ultimately, the sequence portrays a climactic moment of empathy in which the film’s fundamental divisions between boy and vampire, the ‘familiar’ and ‘Other’ are overcome. By re-examining various elements of vampire conventions from folklore and blood through to thresholds and transgression, this sequence brings the viewer ever closer to the complex inner lives of the film’s protagonists. The opening shot of Oskar conveys crucial information about his status, role and psychology. The distance of the medium-long establishing shot not only highlights Oskar’s isolated figure, but also draws attention to elements of the domestic mise-en-scène which, as Corrigan states, can ‘define and reflect’ the inner life of its characters2. Oskar’s sense of confinement and neglect is implied in the composition of the shot, as the walls in the foreground either side of Oskar’s figure entrap him, thus visually reflecting the sense of confinement that Bruhn et al. perceive in the film narrative whereby, ‘critical aspects of human life [are] locked away between the (cold) walls of Blackeberg’3. The composition of the shot thus confirms Oskar’s alienated status in the film. In addition, the set and lighting contributes to an environment of neglect and family breakdown. The lack of warmth and colour in both the pale white walls and the cold lighting ensure that Oskar’s domestic space participates in the list of ‘socially atomised and empty’ environments that Gelder identifies in the film4. The domestic interior mirrors the barren and sterile Stockholm exterior, as 1 Rochelle Wright, ‘Vampire in the Stockholm suburbs: Let the Right One In and genre hybridity’, Journal of Scandinavian Cinema 1: 1, (2010) pp. 68 2 Timothy Corrigan and Patricia White, ‘The Film Experience: An Introduction’, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s (2004) pp. 110 3 Jørgen Bruhn, Anne Gjelsvik & Henriette Thune, ‘Parallel Worlds of Possible Meetings in Let The Right One In’, Word & Image, 27:1 (2011) pp. 11 4 Ken Gelder, ‘Our Vampires, Our Neighbours’, New Vampire Cinema, BFI (2012) pp. 9 1 Oskar’s home is visually suggested to be equally cold and lifeless as the snow and ice that exists beyond its walls. The appeal of such an environment in Swedish drama is clear, given recent fascination with family disintegration and neglected children in recent Swedish film, as well as the prominence of troubled children and young people’s problems in national media5. Indeed, the duration of this static shot (lasting 13 seconds) suggests Alfredson’s clear desire for the viewer to reflect on this internal space, and to visually associate it with these notions of neglect, as a way of enhancing the audience’s understanding of Oskar’s loneliness in the film as a whole. Whilst the diegetic sound of the radio heightens this sense of loneliness, it also adds a degree of familiarity to the scene. On the one hand, the radio lends a layer of artificiality to the otherwise silent scene, functioning as a symbolic substitute for any genuine human contact and also for the communication that is so desperately lacking in Oskar’s neglected family life. On the other hand, the distinctively Swedish voice on the radio serves to locate the scene and, as is the case of the film’s native audience, to invite the viewer to engage with the everyday, Swedish aspects of Oskar’s life, which are crucial to the social realism of the film as a whole. The air of familiarity carried by the monotonous drone of the radio is then subsequently disrupted by the intrusive sound of the electric buzzer, which breaks the calmness of the opening shot, thus signalling the arrival of Eli; the unfamiliar, unknown ‘Other’. Whilst the sequence establishes Oskar’s isolated and confined status in the film, the initial over- the-shoulder shot of Eli contributes to her outsider status and sense of exclusion. By framing Leandersson’s figure in an off-centre position, the presence of the door in front of her is emphasised, and its symbolic significance as an obstacle is accentuated. Considering the absence of such a shot in the earlier scene where Oskar knocks on Eli’s door, it appears as if Alfredson is deliberately seeking to associate Eli with this image of exclusion. Aside from participating in conventional notions of the ‘vampire-as-outsider’, this association is also loaded with social significance, as Eli is coded as an ethnic outsider throughout the film. It is significant that the role of the vampire is played by the only non-ethnic Swede, bar one exception6; a decision which presumably prompted Gelder to view Eli’s roles as that of an ‘immigrant in the local Swedish framework’ of the film7. This reading is strengthened by the fact that the camera is placed behind Leandersson, thus highlighting Eli’s dark hair, in stark contrast to Oskar’s blonde native hair colour. Thus, if Oskar is established as a familiar figure to Swedish viewers, Eli indisputably occupies the role of ‘Other’ in both the sequence and the film as a whole. These roles are enhanced by editing, perspective and costume during the character’s initial interaction. As the door is opened, the viewer expects a straight-angle shot of Oskar on the other side but instead, there is a deliberately placed cut which transitions into an over-the-shoulder shot of Eli, reversing the perspective to that of Oskar’s rather than Eli’s. This technique of aligning the viewer’s perspective with that of Oskar is typical in the film, as it adds to the familiarity of Oskar, whilst Eli remains to a degree, unfamiliar. Furthermore, whilst Oskar’s costume is recognisably modern and familiar (he wears a standard blue T-shirt with a brown, zipper cardigan), Eli’s is antiquated and strange. Whilst her white frock suggests her sense of timelessness (consistent with conventional notions of vampires as immortal and Eli’s earlier line that “I’m twelve… but I’ve been twelve for a long time” at the jungle gym), it also draw further attention to her contrastingly dark, non-native hair. This, combined with her costume’s resemblance to rags, may well draw from older Swedish cinematic traditions of the gypsy (tattare) figure, or more specifically the ‘gyspy urchin’ figure in the 1950s8. This association builds on earlier references to Eli’s smell, accusations of thieving and images of her walking barefoot during the film, to once again emphasises the link between vampire and non-Swedish 5 Wright, pp. 58-59 6 ibid, pp. 59 7 Gelder, 12 8 Wright, 60 2 ‘Other’. Thus, this sequence continues the film’s subtle transformation of supernatural conventions into metaphors for ethnic conflict and exclusion, all within the film’s social realist framework. Yet in addition to emphasising differences, the sequence also establishes another key feature in Eli and Oskar’s relationship; their bond. As Gelder notes, Let the Right One In consistently plays with the ‘fragile distinction between intimacy and remoteness’9, as the isolation of the protagonists also proves the basis of their unlikely bond. This friendship is suggested by the application of shot/counter-shot editing (a style of editing typically associated with conversation 10 ), to an interaction with minimal dialogue, as Eli and Oskar appear to engage in a conversation without words. Indeed, Alfredson himself stated his intentions to make the film ‘as if it were a silent movie’, stressing the importance of image over dialogue in his storytelling 11 . The lack of dialogue increases the importance of gesture and expression as Leandersson’s light smile and Hedebrant’s inviting head gesture suggest an unspoken understanding between the protagonists. Yet this conveyed intimacy meets a definitive and problematic challenge; silent invitation will not suffice in this episode. The first significant line, delivered by Eli (‘you have to say “come in”’) dictates the fundamental barrier separating the protagonists; as a vampire, Eli is governed by different rules to Oskar. Whilst recalling an obscure element of vampire folklore about the need for invitation before entering a dwelling, the line also re-introduces a vital tension in the plot; the barrier separating ‘familiar’ from ‘Other’.